My Element
by lezonne
Summary: Theo assures Hermione that he knows what he's doing. She isn't so sure. Written for the Twelve Days of Christmas Challenge part 4 #4, the If You Dare Challenge prompt #236 and the Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp prompt #19.


Written for the _Twelve Days of Christmas Challenge _part 4 #4, the_ If You Dare Challenge _prompt #236 (method to my madness) and the _Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp _prompt #19 (perfection).

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My Element

"You do realize the entire potion will explode if you do that, right?" Hermione asked uncertainly, staring at her partner in potions for the day. She was a bit apprehensive about his plan.

"Granger, be quiet. I'm pretty good in potions."

"And so am I, Nott. You're going to cover us in the potion, make a mess, and earn us a low grade for the whole assignment."

"You know Granger, you're really not all that fun. Just stand back and watch. There is a method to my madness, I promise you."

"I doubt that," she muttered, shaking her head.

"She really is a killjoy, isn't she Nott?" someone said from behind her, and she glanced back at her usual potions partner Malfoy. Today Snape decided to shake things up and she was working with a different Slytherin- yay.

"Yes, she is. She has absolutely no faith in my abilities."

"Oh, get used to that. She's been acting that way to me all year long."

"I'm not that bad," she snaps, crossing her arms. "But this assignment needs to be perfection. Snape's in a bad mood and he's grading extra hard today."

"Right, but I'm in Slytherin," Nott reminded, smirking at her. "Which means he likes me, and I get easy points."

"And what about my half of the assignment?"

"Oh, that. Well, it's going to be based off of whether or not this works."

"Nott! I knew this was a stupid idea. Stand back- I'll finish it up myself."

"Relax Granger, I've got this. You really are a control freak."

"Told you," Malfoy mutters, smirking at the way her cheeks turned red. She got so worked up so easily that it wasn't even funny.

Okay, that's a lie. It was supremely funny.

"Now stand back Granger," he says, giving her a shove. "This creates a bit of a mess."

"I knew it!"

"Hey now, I said a bit. It's not going to coat the entire classroom in this muck, so be calm. Look, it'll be finished by the time that he gets over here to grade us."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"Because you have no faith in anyone but yourself?" he suggested. She glared at him.

"Granger's not good with humor when it involves a grade," Malfoy cut in again. "It's like her funny bone takes a vacation."

"You're funny bone has nothing to do with-"

"See what I mean?"

She ground her teeth together, a bad feeling forming in her stomach as she waited for Snape to get to them. She had a bad feeling this was all going to blow up in her face.

"And did you two actually succeed in doing this right?" Snape drawled when he finally got to them. He just left Ron and Crabbe's table, and Hermione supposed it hadn't gone very well.

"And then some," Theo replied cockily, worrying Hermione more and more. She would not get a bad grade because of this twit! Snape bent over the cauldron to take a peek, but since the potion was toxic he only examined color, consistency and thickness. He wouldn't try it.

"Interesting. I see you took it a step further by adding the clover to give it that nice green hue. That's on the way to creating a blowout potion."

"It was all Nott's idea," she muttered. Nothing blew up, nothing went wrong. She was annoyed that this Slytherin not only did the potion well but enhanced it. Bloody prick.

Snape nodded his approval before walking on to the next group. Nott turned to smirk at her.

"And you were worried over that?"

"I thought it was going to do something horrific," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Congratulations, you succeeded in not blowing anything up. Good job."

He sighed. "Ah, Granger, it is truly impossible to please you."

"You're trying to best me in academics Nott. Of course it's hard to please me. This is my element."

"Well, soon it's going to be my element too, and you'll have some competition," he continued, smirking wider. He just barely missed a book she threw at him. Granger had a bit of a temper.

He liked that about her. He liked getting under her skin and riling her up. It was oh so attractive.


End file.
